1. Field of the Invention
The present application generally relates to personal medical records and, more particularly, to portable personal medical records and a method and system for creating, assembling, managing, utilizing, and securely storing such records.
2. Related Art
A patient's medical record is a documentation of his or her medical history and care; it may include documentation of single or multiple encounters, with one or more care providers. Medical records are known by various names, including among others: patient charts, personal health records (PHRs), health care records, lifetime health records (LHRs), electronic health records (EHRs), and electronic medical records (EMRs). A medical record typically includes some or all of the following patient information and documentation: identification, insurance coverage, employment, family medical history, health history (including illnesses, surgeries and chronic diseases), medications, allergies, immunizations, lab and diagnostic test results, complaints or problems, medical examination assessments and findings, and treatment plans, including referrals to other care providers, medical prescriptions, patient instruction for self-care and return visits. As used herein, care providers include: physicians, dentists, nurses, physician assistants, nurse practitioner, therapists, emergency care personnel, pharmacists, and other medical personnel, as well as personnel working under their direction. They generally deliver their services from health care facilities, including among others: physician offices, healthcare clinics, hospitals including emergency departments, emergency vehicles, labs, pharmacies, physical therapy facilities and nursing homes. The information contained in a medical record allows care providers to provide continuity of care to a patient. The medical record also serves as a basis for documenting the care and services provided to the patient by the care provider, planning patient care, and documenting communication between the care provider and any other health professional contributing to the patient's care.
Patient medical records traditionally are compiled and maintained by individual care providers in their own chosen formats and filed in their own respective repositories or “silos” (they are referred to as silos because they are not connected in any way). Since patients typically see and are treated by more than one care provider throughout their lifetime, their records generally are dispersed among care providers in different practices, hospitals, cities and even states, and generally in disparate, incompatible formats (e.g., handwritten, transcribed, and/or electronic formats). There ordinarily is no single system that consolidates these disparate and dispersed records into a single comprehensive personal lifetime health record for the patient so care providers rarely if ever can access a patient's complete personal health record. Similarly, health insurers have records of reimbursement payments made to care providers for each insured, which indicate the category of service for which they request payment but these records do not describe the complaint or possible alternate diagnoses or other detailed clinical information useful to care providers. Additionally, if the patient has been insured by more than one company, there is no consolidated record for the patient. Finally, health insurer patient medical records generally are available online to the insured patient for only for a limited period of time (e.g., typically one or two years) before they are removed.
Having ready access to a patient's comprehensive lifetime health record (i.e., copies of records from all care providers who have treated the patient spanning a significant period time, perhaps even the patient's lifetime) would allow care providers to better understand the patient's medical history and condition and thereby provide better medical care to the patient. Lack of easy, timely access to such a lifetime health record can lead to costly medical errors such as misdiagnoses, incorrect treatments, unnecessary or redundant medical testing, and prescribing conflicting medications.